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Your board chair has asked you to head up the development committee of your chorus's board. Do you 1) wail, "Why me?!" or 2) proudly take on the mantle of leadership, knowing you are not only helping ensure the future of your chorus but also promoting philanthropy, a tradition that helped build many modern industrialized nations?? Hopefully, you've chosen the latter! The information and advice below can help you tackle this key leadership role.
Many board members are wary of leading the development committee or even serving on it because they fear they will be responsible for doing all the fundraising themselves. "There is a common perception that the development committee goes about raising money," says David Styers, senior governance consultant for BoardSource, "and rest of the board is there to support them and say, 'Go to it!'
"In reality that thinking is backward and the paradigm needs to be flipped," he says. "The staff and development committee are there to support the board in accomplishing its responsibilities for fundraising."
The Board's Role in Fundraising
When your board chair considered asking you to serve as development chair, he/she was keenly aware of the fact that ensuring an organization's human and financial resources is a primary function of a nonprofit board. For the vast majority of choruses, this responsibility means ensuring that as much as 40-60 percent of the annual budget comes from contributed revenues (i.e. fundraising in all its forms).
The board's responsibilities in fundraising comprise two parts: responsibilities of the board as a whole and those of the individual board member.
BoardSource summarizes a board's responsibilities in fundraising as:
- Clearly defining annual fundraising goals
- Delegating responsibilities to meet these goals
- Creating fundraising and donor recognition policies
- Monitoring costs
- Ensuring fundraising methods adhere to ethical standards
In addition, each member of the board must take on his/her own fundraising responsibilities; these should be clearly delineated in the board member job description. The scope can vary depending on an organization's budget size, culture, stage of development, and whether it has a development staff, but it is safe to say that, in general, each board member must:
- Make a personally significant (a "stretch") gift each year
- Participate in building and maintaining relationships with current and potential donors
- Attend all fundraising events
- Assist in fundraising events as needed
Because many choruses have no paid development staff, chorus boards tend to have significant responsibilities for all types of fundraising. That means the board chair must look for a talented leader with the right skill set to chair the development committee.
"One of the most important jobs of the board chair is, as management expert Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) describes it, 'to get the right people on the bus and in the right seats,'" says Corty Fengler, chair of Chorus America's development committee. "I advise new board chairs that the first thing they should do is find the right development chair and get that person on the bus—fast!"
The Right Stuff: What Makes an Effective Development Chair
An effective development committee chair must be passionate about the mission so that he/she is able to inspire the board with the case for the organization—engaging them in why the organization is worthy of support. Fengler emphasizes, "Fundraising truly matters and is the full board's responsibility. The development committee chair needs to be able to convey this. Volunteers and philanthropy make a country great, and the board has the privilege of participating in that—that's why it matters."
The chair also needs to be:
- Organized
- Articulate and good at building relationships with other board members and donors
- Able to recruit the right people for the various tasks in the development process (asking for gifts may be the task that worries board members the most, but in reality there are many others steps in the process when board members can be involved)
- Detail oriented
- Committed to follow through
Now, back to you: By now, you should realize that this critical job isn't entrusted to just anyone. You've been asked to take this role on because you are seen as someone with valuable people and organizational skills, and with a passion for your chorus's mission and vision. It's not an overstatement to say that the organization can't be successful without you!
The Role of the Development Committee
Like other committee chairs, you will be expected to provide strategy, coordination, facilitation, and communication between the full board and the development committee. The development committee chair should also be a member of the executive committee. Your committee will support the board in its fundraising responsibilities by:
- Working with the executive director (or development staff) to establish an annual fundraising plan that encompasses all types of vehicles such as direct mail, personal solicitation, fundraising events, raffles, grant writing
- Proposing a minimum (or a dollar range) for board members' annual contributions
- Soliciting contributions from other board members
- Leading the board's participation in all aspects of fundraising, especially major gift development
- Developing fundraising policies and procedures, such as a gift acceptance policy and ensuring ethical practices
- Providing education/training to develop the board's skills and techniques in fundraising
- Monitoring costs
Again, the scope of these duties will vary depending on staff support. For small organizations, the development committee and the executive director and music director together are the equivalent of development staff and manage all tasks related to aspects of the development program: annual fund, grant writing, special events, corporate sponsorship, and major gifts from individuals. If there is development staff, the board committee tends to be involved more specifically in board gift solicitation, major donor cultivation, and special event planning.
Involving Individual Board Members
Fundraising provides a way for all board members to be hands-on in the life of their organization, engage members of the community, and use their own passion to build relationships. Yet many board members dread this aspect of their board job because of their fear of asking for money. Styers of BoardSource believes that board members can face this fear and overcome it.
"In our surveys of nonprofit boards, respondents say that their number one concern—and the area where they need the most skill development—is fundraising," says Styers. "In seminars, I remind board members that fundraising has been a part of their lives since they were children—everything from selling Girl Scout cookies to asking for allowance! I urge them to remember that fundraising is about sharing their passion for the chorus and building relationships."
As the development committee chair, you can offer each board member a variety of ways, suited to their talents, to be involved and in the process perhaps build their confidence. Board members can:
- Use their personal connections to add to the organization's contact list
- Open doors to potential contributors for the executive director or others to cultivate
- Assist in evaluating prospective donors
- Write grants and fundraising letters
- Organize/attend special events
- Personally thank donors
Just like the board chair, the development committee chair can accomplish a lot just by "getting the right people on the bus" and by matching individuals' talents to these aspects of fundraising and recruiting their help. The thank-you process is an especially good place to start. It is an essential part of the development process, and board members typically don't mind calling major donors or writing brief personal notes simply to express thanks, chat about the organization, and encourage continued involvement.
Final Word of Advice
There may be times when you are feeling overwhelmed with your responsibility as development chair, or frustrated that you've had to remind your board colleagues, yet again, of their individual responsibilities in the process. When that happens, borrow a practice from yoga: Take a few deep breaths and find your organization's center; visualize how your chorus is serving the public good, perpetuating an art form that touches lives and hearts like no other. All of the direct-mail letters, auction galas, lunches, thank-you notes, receptions, and grant proposals lead to these ends.
"I have a favorite quote from Henry Russo, founder of The Fundraising School," says Styers. 'Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.' I hope board members will think of fundraising as a joyful thing because it helps to give others the joy of supporting something wonderful for their community."
This article is adapted from The Voice, Summer 2008.
